Awesome fix....the hard part was to spot the dodgy soldering :-).
Just shows that CM folks are cutting costs by using inferior soldering process. Wondering if they have anywhere close to 500 DPM (Defects per million) which is considered to be extremely good and difficult to achieve in a production line. Most companies like Apple, Intel and Logitech probably have 0.005% with a confidence level of 95% (or 50 DPM) defect rate or better. I am guessing CM has over 10k DPM quality control by just the looks of this problem. Also their solder joints don't look shiny...a clue that it was probably a drifting soldering temperature in their machines (probably around 650 F).
No ****, tp4tissue.
But for regular joe without know-how & soldering quipment...it would be a huge disappointment if the soldering joints are compromised over the life of the keyboard.
Any man who can not solder, must surrender his man card.
hahahaQuoteAny man who can not solder, must surrender his man card.
LOL, I can't say I disagree with you. A man must know how to solder... but what about her:Show Image(http://i.imgur.com/DMUVZ.gif)
haha...
How did you determine that the gap was "too big" instead of doing a massive solder blob?
Nice fix!
I noticed plastic of the switch melted away as you work on them. Your soldering iron must be pretty hot.
Great job. From the first pic though, it looks like there were no pads to begin with. Both of the ALT switch pin has no pads there. It came off really easily because solder cannot stick to solder mask.
Also, learning from your experience, I think we can go directly to last two steps whenever we see a broken joint.
1. Scratch the coating around the broken connection.
2. Place a little piece of wire between the gap and solder.
The pad was there, just broken. It came off along with the original solder. I saw a little round disc when I wiped the tip clean.
The pad was there, just broken. It came off along with the original solder. I saw a little round disc when I wiped the tip clean.
The pad was lifted from the board and the traces broken by the switch itself. Like I said, it was soldered with a gap between the switch and the PCB. The stress of pressing the key seated the switch, which broke the trace.
QuoteAny man who can not solder, must surrender his man card.
LOL, I can't say I disagree with you. A man must know how to solder... but what about her:Show Image(http://i.imgur.com/DMUVZ.gif)
haha...
Hrmm... did the key switch move by "THAT" much to lift the pad? I was under the assumption that the plate mounting would keep these things pretty taught.
Hrmm... did the key switch move by "THAT" much to lift the pad? I was under the assumption that the plate mounting would keep these things pretty taught.
It doesn't have to move that much to lift the pad. Less than a millimeter is more than enough to cause fatigue. Once the bond under pad fails, the trace will fail at the nearest stress point, usually the edge of the solder. The plate won't help if the switch isn't seated all the way down. I would look carefully at all of the switches. If it was my keyboard, I'd reflow all of the joints (at least in that corner) while push the switch down.
Also, I wanted to ask, did you use flux? Your solder joint is very pooled..meaning that the solder is bunched up and not more "liquified" looking if you will? It seems like they never hit the target temp, which may be understandable with the larger blob of solder and the copper wire dispersing your heat rather quickly.
The solder should be very shiny and flat, meaning that it should seem like it was a pure liquid at one point with lower surface tension.
Also interesting how all of your pins are already bent.
Also, I wanted to ask, did you use flux? Your solder joint is very pooled..meaning that the solder is bunched up and not more "liquified" looking if you will? It seems like they never hit the target temp, which may be understandable with the larger blob of solder and the copper wire dispersing your heat rather quickly.
The solder should be very shiny and flat, meaning that it should seem like it was a pure liquid at one point with lower surface tension.
Also interesting how all of your pins are already bent.
I'm no soldering pro. It works fine, and if it breaks again I'll fix it again :P
I did use flux. All the solder joints that I have fixed in the past that were missing a copper pad have never laid flat. There's nothing on the surface to adhere too.
There was definitely enough heat. It took some time to get the solder into the right shape that would connect all three points. I was afraid it was getting too hot at times.
And what alaricljs said about the bent pins. Just jumpers.
Also, keep in mind that these photos were taken with a macro lens. Things always seem bigger and more detailed. The copper wire is probably about as thick as 0.5mm pencil lead. And the joints look more shiny to the naked eye than they do in the photos.
Hey,
Thanks for the guide and information about the bad soldering of the keyboard.
I got the same issue, but wondering if you could give pics as well on how you opened up the casing without us doing any unecessary scratches while figuring out:). Already RMAd my old one but got the keep it and got a new one, but I would like to revive the one with the issue ;D
Thanks!
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=39292.msg767305#msg767305
Here is the link of my walkthrough of how to take apart a plate mounted board and change switches. It's a bit general, but feel free to PM me or reply here for questions.
http://geekhack.org/index.php?topic=39292.msg767305#msg767305
Here is the link of my walkthrough of how to take apart a plate mounted board and change switches. It's a bit general, but feel free to PM me or reply here for questions.
walk-throughs are nice...
Now if only you could come up with a cheat code that lets the keyboard take itself apart.. :eek:
What? lol...
btw tp4tissue opening the cover is simply not sliding a credit card.. my fingernails man...my fingernails bro...
oh and its 3 screws, not just one. Don't try to pry it off without removing all of them LOL
What? lol...
btw tp4tissue opening the cover is simply not sliding a credit card.. my fingernails man...my fingernails bro...
oh and its 3 screws, not just one. Don't try to pry it off without removing all of them LOL
This thread is for the QFR, not the Ducky Shine...haha
One screw and a credit card is all you need.
What? lol...
btw tp4tissue opening the cover is simply not sliding a credit card.. my fingernails man...my fingernails bro...
oh and its 3 screws, not just one. Don't try to pry it off without removing all of them LOL
This thread is for the QFR, not the Ducky Shine...haha
One screw and a credit card is all you need.
Touche...lol
What? lol...
btw tp4tissue opening the cover is simply not sliding a credit card.. my fingernails man...my fingernails bro...
oh and its 3 screws, not just one. Don't try to pry it off without removing all of them LOL
This thread is for the QFR, not the Ducky Shine...haha
One screw and a credit card is all you need.
Touche...lol
yea, don't be come up in here and all like hizzel....
What? lol...
btw tp4tissue opening the cover is simply not sliding a credit card.. my fingernails man...my fingernails bro...
oh and its 3 screws, not just one. Don't try to pry it off without removing all of them LOL
This thread is for the QFR, not the Ducky Shine...haha
One screw and a credit card is all you need.
Touche...lol
yea, don't be come up in here and all like hizzel....
...what the f does that even mean
No ****, tp4tissue.
But for regular joe without know-how & soldering quipment...it would be a huge disappointment if the soldering joints are compromised over the life of the keyboard.
Any man who can not solder, must surrender his man card.
If little kids in 3rd world countries can do it, the average-joe has no excuse. :)
or you could spend $15 on a soldering iron.
or you could spend $15 on a soldering iron.
Or I could get a working keyboard out of the box. terrible QA is no excuse.
Glad to see a DIYer.. rather than the usual whiny lil' B%&ch$
Glad to see a DIYer.. rather than the usual whiny lil' B%&ch$
The usual whiny lil' B%&ch$ -> That would be me :-)